Tibetan Input Tools for Linux

Contributor(s): THL Staff.

Simply having a Tibetan font does not mean that you can now use Tibetan in a computer. You also need a keyboard or input mechanism to efficiently type in Tibetan, and you also need that input mechanism to work with the various types of software you typically use. One of the problems concerning the use of Tibetan fonts in digital contexts has been the limited and non-standard nature of Tibetan script input tools and software. Usually keyboards are also platform-specific, so that they only work for Windows, Mac, or Macintosh. This page is focused on the Linux operating system. For other input tools, see Tibetan Input Tools for Macintosh, Tibetan Input Tools for Windows, and Tibetan Input Tools for Browsers or Cross-Platform. To read about the general methods of Tibetan keyboards - such as Wylie, Sambhota, etc. - please see Tibetan Input System Principles. To read about using Tibetan Unicode in Linux in general, see Using Tibetan in Linux.

The Dzongkha (dz) XKB file for X11 can be used for Tibetan script. The m17n-lib Unicode Input Method (UIM) contains another input method for Tibetan script based on EWTS at UIM.